, when she says: "There are as many
kinds of voices as there are persons; therefore it seems to me each
voice should be treated in the manner best suited to its possessor."
"Singing is such an individual thing, after all," says Anna Case; "it is
a part of one's very self." "Each person has a different mentality and a
different kind of voice," says Martinelli; "indeed there are as many
qualities of voice as there are people."

Granting, then, that there are no two voices and personalities in the
world, exactly alike, it follows, as a natural conclusion, that the
renowned vocalist, who has won his or her way from the beginning up to
fame and fortune, realizes that her instrument and her manner of
training and handling it are peculiarly personal. As she has won success
through certain means and methods, she considers those means belong to
her, in the sense that they especially suit her particular instrument.
She is then a law unto herself and is unwilling to lay down any laws for
others. Geraldine Farrar does not imply there is only one right way to
train the voice, and she has found that way. In speaking of her method
of study, she says: "These things seem best for my voice, and this is
the way I work. But, since each voice is different, my ways might not
suit any one else. I have no desire to lay down rules for others; I can
only speak of my own experience."

Galli-Curci says: "The singer who understands her business must know
just how she produces tones and vocal effects. She can then do them at
all times, even under adverse circumstances, when nervous or not in the
mood. I have developed the voice and trained it in the way that seemed
to me best for it. How can any other person tell you how that is to be
done?"

"It rests with the singer what she will do with her voice--how she will
develop it," remarks Mme. Homer. Martinelli says: "The voice is a hidden
instrument and eventually its fate must rest with its possessor. After
general principles are understood, a singer must work them out according
to his ability." Florence Easton remarks: "Each singer who has risen,
who has found herself, knows by what path she climbed, but the path she
found might not do for another."

Instead of considering this reticence on the part of the successful
singer, to explain the ways and means which enabled him to reach
success, in the light of a selfish withholding of advice which would
benefit the young student, we rather look upon it